Community Chat

[LilacTree]

My last SO was a painter.  And he was an "artist" in the sense that he painted perfectly.  He never advertised and never took on a helper.  He did it all himself no matter the size of the job.  He had clients for life because once he did their painting, they would never hire another. 

His motto was "No need for anything up front, but when it's done, I want all of it."  He always got it.  In all the years I knew him he only had to sue one person to get paid.

He took me to a couple of jobs that needed one wall of wallpaper, as I was excellent at wall papering.  He paid me $100 per wall.  Not bad!!

When I was still working, our boss asked me about him because he wanted the whole building repainted inside and out.  My SO did it all.  That boss owned dozens of properties, including houses at the shore, and my SO got all those jobs too.  Sometimes he was booked a year in advance, and people would wait rather than hire anyone else. 

He never used tapes, he never got a drop of paint on himself.  He used to tell people "Before you hire a painter, look inside his van."  His looked like a library.

[kivah]

You should NOT be paying in full. I just ordered a new custom, frameless, glass shower enclosure for $1,450. The owner of the small company asked me for half. I gave him $700 - and I paid the rest when he installed it. NEVER PAY IN FULL. If they insist, don't order from them. They have no right to ask for payment in FULL - ur husband is naive. 

[SahmIam]

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@Mom2Dogs wrote:

When we were looking at new tile and countertops for our kithen, Lowes insisted we paid in full as well.....we went with another company that we paid 1/2 down and the other half when the job was done.

No way was I paying in full, what if they did a lousy job?  The sales associate told me they never had problems...really!!

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@Mom2Dogs  Holy Moly, did your story remind me of something!!

MANY years ago, when my 17 year old was 3, one of the moms at a preschool playgroup I was in had her kitchen re-done. The house was a McMansion and I remember how beautiful it was (I was in a dinky townhouse at the time with 2 kids) and could not figure out what she wanted to redo the kitchen of a house that was 5 years old. But, she did. For whatever reason, the counters were being done by Lowes. Her husband was on a business trip for 2 weeks, so the kitchen would be done when he arrived. Her mom moved in to help with the kids ( 7 and 3) while he was gone and to keep them out of the way during the work.

We arrived (6 moms and kids) the day after the kitchen was completely done. She was in tears and on the phone almost the whole time with Lowes. The kitchen island had a seam right down the middle of it (the used 2 pieces of marble or granite or whatever it was instead of 1 large piece) and the entire front edge and one side edge was unfinished. 3 sections of kitchen counter tops had seams down the middle and the backsplash slabs were not flush with the counter. It looked horrible.

Not only had she paid in full upfront, she did so AFTER her husband had refused to pay when they were at Lowes because "if you screw up, we're screwed". She called them and paid for it after he left for his trip.  

It was eventually fixed AFTER they sued Lowes and the sub-contractor.  I'll never forget that.

[homedecor1]

@Shorty2U

Im thinking in this day & age it's not uncommon.  I know we just had 18 windows & 2 sliders special order & different sizes (triple pane, hurricane proof,etc. - code in FL) by a very reputable company in our area.

We paid 100% upfront (not happy about that) but it was told to us - with a costly order such as ours - if we "change our mind" then the contractor is STUCK. Which is probably true - the windows came in - installed & perfect! 

We then ordered new door & storm door from Lowes - we paid up front. Contractor was on time & everything fine.

I recently, ordered plantation shutters & blinds through a private company here & paid up front.  Everything was fine.  

Did same when we contracted for the new roof. It was paid up front.

Yet, when I had our kitchen remodel we paid up front & that was a total disaster with the company YET the only leverage I had for recourse was I paid up front for certain cabinet, granite, etc. & this company did not deliver what I ordered BUT a different grade of same cabinet. I had to argue (and demand) the contract stipulated what I paid for vs what I was receiving. After weeks of aggravation...the contractor did make it right!!!

I wonder if it's the sign of the times - and in FL it's very important to make sure the contractor is licensed because they have lots of "crooks"!!!

I hope all will be ok.

[Kachina624]

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@OnlyShopsOnline wrote:

We just had a new front door installed, and paid a deposit upfront and the balance when the installation was completed.

HOWEVER, I had surgery last week.  I had to pay my estimated portion of my surgeon and hospital bills about a month BEFORE my surgery.  First time I've ever had to do that.

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@OnlyShopsOnline  That would be kind of worrisome.  Makes you wonder if they think you might not be around to pay the bill. 

[Ibby114]

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@sidsmom wrote:

Whenever you're doing contract work,

pretend you're in court with Judy....

have that visual in your head at all times.

Will your actions hold up in court?

What would Judy do?

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Just watch a couple of episodes of Judge Judy - and you'll never pay in full upfront again! 

I paid upfront one time- I was getting new garage doors with one of the businesses  offered through Costco. The payment was to Costco- I felt a bit safer then and the garage doors are awesome. 

[OnlyShopsOnline]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@OnlyShopsOnline wrote:

We just had a new front door installed, and paid a deposit upfront and the balance when the installation was completed.

HOWEVER, I had surgery last week.  I had to pay my estimated portion of my surgeon and hospital bills about a month BEFORE my surgery.  First time I've ever had to do that.

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@OnlyShopsOnline  That would be kind of worrisome.  Makes you wonder if they think you might not be around to pay the bill. 

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LOL!

[Yardlie]

My uncle had to fully pay the contractor for a new roof before the work was begun...$5,500.  The contractor never returned to do the work. My uncle sued and took the man to court. The man never showed up in court, so my uncle won a judgment against him. The only thing was that he had to find the man to get his money returned. He never did find the man...probably skipped the state.

[jaxs mom]

Special order items need to be paid for up front and there is usually no refund. 

[Shorty2U]

Thank you so much for the replies. I hope everything goes smoothly too but I wish DH had asked about paying part of it until the doors are installed. (they pay the rest). He is too trusting IMO. I am more hesitant I guess?

Anyway, we got emails stating the door was ordered and the date when it will arrive to them. So they are sending updates. Also I read the entire 15 page contract/receipt and it has everything listed (even the hardware). It says we paid in full.

So now we just wait for them to call and set it up and hope it goes smoothly.

(Sorry it took me long to reply I haven't been online as much lately)